A New Light
by xxxXXxEllexXXxxx
Summary: Troy has been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember will current events tear them apart, or will he possibly get everything that he ever dreamed of? Oneshot


**A New Light**

**Hiya guys, while revising for my exams, I was listening to this song, which is Leavin' by Jesse McCartney and I had an idea to do this oneshot, so please read it and tell me what you thought!**

"Hey Belle," Troy called, catching up to his best friend in the hallway, who turned around and grinned at him as he wrapped an arm around her in a hug.

Gabriella chuckled into his embrace, wrapping her free arm around him before the two broke apart once more, "Hey superstar," she laughed, and automatically Troy felt proud, knowing that he was the only one she ever called that.

As the two of them started to walk back up the corridor, they fell into a comfortable silence, before Troy asked the question that he should have learnt by this stage not to ask, as Gabriella's answer was always the same, and it always caused tension between the two friends, "So Ellie, what you up to this weekend? Do you wanna go bowling or something? I'll even stoop as low as going ice skating just to spend some time with you," Troy joked, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gabriella nervously chewing her bottom lip, a sign that she was nervous, and instantly he knew what her answer was going to be, causing him to sigh inwardly.

"Sorry Troy, I can't, Bryce is taking me to cinema to see Iron Man, I'd love to but I can't," Gabriella mumbled quietly, not looking Troy in the eye.

Troy just gaped at her, Gabriella hated movies like Iron Man, she had complained about it from the very first preview that the two had seen together, when Troy had started to go on about going to see it.

Troy cleared his throat quietly, "Oh, well fine yeah good, another time then I guess?" He smiled softly as she nodded and headed up the corridor to his own locker, but inside his head he was screaming, _what the hell does he have that I don't? What is so good about Bryce Henry? He treats her like dirt, the guy doesn't deserve her, I could do so much better._

Reaching the end of the corridor, Troy turned around to get another look at his best friend, who he was so madly in love with that it was slowly killing him.

_Mmmm  
Hey baby girl I've been watching you all day  
Man, that thing you got behind you is amazin'  
You make me want to take you out and let it rain, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.  
I know you got a man but this is what you should say_

Troy grinned as he took in all of Gabriella's natural beauty, eyeing her up and down.

Her ebony curls fell down her back, reaching just above her waist, where they hung loosely, Gabriella having given up long ago attempting to tame the flyaway curls into a ponytail or a bun.

The clothes that she was wearing complimented her perfectly; her tank top and short sleeved green hoodie clinging to her curves perfectly, along with her black skinny jeans, and her red ballet flats adding to the affect, and flattering Gabriella's naturally golden skin perfectly.

However, Troy's grin quickly faded and a heavy set frown found its way to his face as Bryce came up behind Gabriella, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek roughly.

Bryce had been Troy's rival since pre-school, although as far as Troy was concerned, he was a complete idiot, captain of the football team, although the team never did anywhere as well as the basketball team, and had a string of girlfriends, usually dumping them as soon as he got them into bed, and it terrified Troy that he would try the same with Gabriella.

Bryce saw Troy's glare over the top of Gabriella's head and smirked back, before leaning in and kissing Gabriella heatedly, making Troy feel so ill that he had to turn on his heal and sprint down the corridor as fast as his legs would take him.

As Troy was sprinting as far away from the 'loved-up' couple as he could, a fond memory of Gabriella before Bryce came into the picture popped into his head.

**Flashback**

"**Please Belle, please come out with me! I'm bored I've been stuck inside the house all week now!" Troy begged from Gabriella's front door, drawing out the all to make her feel sympathetic for him, but Gabriella had simply smiled and shook her head.**

"**No way Superstar, it's pouring with rain out there, which would be the reason that we've been trapped inside all week," Gabriella reasoned, ever the rational one, and Troy just rolled his eyes, before shaking his head, drips from his soaking wet hair flying everywhere, causing Gabriella to scream and Troy to snigger.**

"**There, now you're wet too, so you can come out," Troy beamed at his best friend, earning a death glare from her, so he rolled his eyes once more and stooped down, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder as she shrieked at him to leave her inside.**

**He finally put her down in the middle of her lawn, the two teenagers now caught out in a thunderstorm, "Dance with me Belle," he smiled holding out his hand to her and she giggled slightly, taking his hand and the two of them pranced around her garden, the rain falling all around them.**

**End Flashback.**

Sure the two of them had both gotten into a lot of trouble when their parents found out, and they had both become ill, but to Troy, it had been worth it, and he just wished that Gabriella felt the same.

But that was all before Bryce had come into the picture, Troy couldn't even remember the last time that he had spent time with Gabriella outside of school anymore, sighing, Troy hopped up onto the wall outside of the school and just sat there swinging his legs as he watched all the other East High students leaving for the day, many yelling a hello to him as they passed, but he couldn't even find the energy to look at them today.

_Why don't you tell him that I'm leaving Never to come back again  
You've found somebody who does it better than he can  
No more making you cry  
No more grey skies  
Girl we flyin' on the G5, G5  
And we're leaving never looking back again So call your shorty and tell him you found a new man  
The one that's so, so fly  
The one to keep you high  
Yeah we'll be singing all night Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Man she's gonna be singing  
Oh oh oh ohh oh oh ohh oh oh ohhh_

Sitting on the wall, Troy sighed as he thought of all of the times that he had seen Gabriella cry over the last two and a half months since she started to date Bryce, it was more times than Troy had ever seen her cry in the whole rest of the time that he had known her, which was about eighteen months by this point, yet he still had no clue how to tell her that he was in love with her, even though he knew that he should, if only to get her away from Bryce rather than anything else.

The amount of times that Gabriella had told Troy that it was over, that she was finally leaving him, after he'd called her more names, his favourites being slut or whore, of which Troy knew that Gabriella was neither, and could never be called either.

But Troy had always been disappointed when by the Monday morning, the 'happy couple' were walking down the corridor once again holding hands, Gabriella always coming up with some excuse, like he had seemed really sorry, and he had given her flowers, before he started to treat her like dirt once more, causing her to cry again, for Troy it was an extremely vicious cycle, every time they broke up, his hopes were raised, and then when he had the confidence to finally tell Gabriella, they were back together again, and all of his dreams were once more crushed.

The first break up had come only about two weeks after they had started to date, and Bryce had completely blown up at Gabriella, and ruined any self-confidence that she had had previously, but Troy had been there to pick up the pieces, for the first, but certainly not the last time.

**Flashback**

**Troy watched Gabriella from further up the corridor as she laughed with Taylor, before Taylor had to leave to go to chemistry, leaving only Troy and Gabriella themselves in a deserted corridor, as Gabriella hummed breaking free to herself, making Troy laugh silently, wondering whether or not to make his presence known, but he decided against it, when moments later, an enraged Bryce, with a bright red face barrelled down the corridor, heading straight for his girlfriend.**

**Hiding behind the wall, Troy watched as Gabriella turned around smiling, but her face rapidly contorted into terror as Bryce grabbed both of her forearms, bringing her round so that she was facing him.**

"**WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Bryce screamed at Gabriella, spit flying everywhere, as his face turned the colour of a tomato, and Gabriella shook within his grasp.**

"**Wha-What a-are y-y-you t-t-t-talking about B-B-B-B-Bryce?" Gabriella squeaked out, and he shook her violently, pressing her up against a locker.**

"**WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?" He roared and Gabriella nodded weakly, "I'M TALKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME WITH THAT THAT THAT BOLTON THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"**

**Gabriella shook her head violently from where he was still holding onto her arms, lifting her from the floor, "No Bryce, no I'm not," she cried out, "Troy's just my best friend, you're my boyfriend, not him."**

**Behind the wall, Troy was fuming at Bryce for treating Gabriella in such a way, but at the same time, his heart was breaking in two as he realised that the girl who loved him had no feelings for him in the same way that he loved her.**

"**Yeah, right, you little slut," Bryce spat out once more, releasing Gabriella's arms so that she sunk down to the floor, and he crouched down next to her, "You're just a worthless whore Gabriella, nobody could love you like I do," with that, Bryce pushed a lock of hair behind her ear before aggressively kissing her lips and slinking off down the corridor, leaving a sobbing Gabriella on the floor.**

**Troy slowly walked up to Gabriella and dropped to his knees beside her, flinching slightly when she looked up at him, with bright red puffy eyes.**

"**Come on Belle, let's get you home," he whispered gently to her, picking up her bag as well as his own and helping her to her feet.**

**End Flashback**

That afternoon, Troy had dropped Gabriella off at home before running to the store to pick up ice cream, chocolate, sweets and two of Gabriella's favourite movies, and the two had later devoured all of the food, as well as pizza, as Gabriella had promised Troy that she was dumping him straight away the following day, and she would never take him back, because the only one she needed was Troy as he let her show the world who she really was.

Gabriella had broken that promise the following morning when Bryce had shown up at school with a massive bouquet of flowers, orchids and poppies, which she had accepted along with his apology, leaving a disgusted Troy to stand off to the side and watch them again from further down the corridor. Bryce hadn't even gotten her her favourite flowers, Troy would have known to get her pink lilies and white roses, as they had been her favourites since she was a little girl and her dad had given her a bouquet of them when she was six, right before he passed away.

_Now if I talk it girl you know I'm gonna walk it out  
Man I put my money, money where my mouth is you're the baddest little thing that I ever seen, ever seen, ever seen  
So I'm gonna ask you one time if you've got a man_

Troy may have had girls crawling all over him on a daily basis, but the only one he wanted was his best friend, the one who he knew was being hurt, even if she didn't know it at some points.

The only topic that was going around the boys' changing room during gym was when Bryce would manage to get Gabriella in to bed with him, Troy had been revolted when most of the football team, along with most of the rest of the male population of East High, minus the basketball team and Ryan who saw Gabriella as a little sister, had started to place bets on when the two would sleep together, and Troy knew that as soon as he did get her into bed, Bryce would dump her and tell every single person in the school what had happened, undoubtedly calling her a slut or a whore at some points during his explanation, and probably adding in lots more details than what would actually happen, if it ever did. Troy prayed that Gabriella would stick to her morals of never sleeping with anyone before knowing if they were the one or not, otherwise she was going to get unbelievably hurt, and troy would not be able to protect her from this.

Troy had remembered asking Gabriella about how she would know when she found the one for her, and making a bet of their own that day, although it was a much more innocent wager than the one that the people at school were currently performing.

**Flashback**

"**So you're not gonna have sex with anyone like ever?" Troy asked, sitting backwards and swinging himself round on Gabriella's computer chair, occasionally glancing at the brunette who was trying to do her physics homework sat cross-legged on her bed.**

"**I never said that Troy," Gabriella frowned, looking at him quickly, before returning to her problem.**

"**Well then how do you know if someone is 'the one'?" Troy asked, using his fingers to put quotations around the one.**

**Gabriella sighed and put her physics book to one side, knowing that she was never going to get this done until she explained what 'the one' was to Troy, "Boys'," she huffed blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes.**

"**Excuse me?" Troy asked, looking offended, "Men," he stated correcting her, and holding one finger up, to look like their geography teacher Mr Couch, causing Gabriella to burst into fits of laughter as Troy chuckled quietly himself.**

"**Troy, 'the one' is the person that I am going to spend the rest of my life with, and as for how I'll know," she grinned at him, "There'll be a spark, a shiver that runs across me every time that we touch, he'll be the one that I want to be with constantly, and never leave his side," Gabriella sighed dreamily and Troy just looked at her in shock.**

**Suddenly he snorted, "Like hell, that's a load of crap," he stated, laughing nervously, scratching the back of his neck, knowing that she had just described exactly what he felt every time she touched him, or was around him.**

**Gabriella glared at him and threw a pillow at his head, "All right then hotshot, let's make a wager."**

**Troy immediately sat bolt upright, every time they made a wager, it usually turned out badly for him. "Fine then Belle, just tell me what it is," he said cheekily, throwing the pillow back at her head.**

"**Good, when you meet the girl and you feel the spark, you owe me twenty bucks Bolton, and if it doesn't happen before you turn twenty eight, I owe you twenty bucks, seem fair?" She questioned with a smirk and Troy nodded, shaking her hand their special way, and gulping as he figured out that he had already felt it.**

**End Flashback**

Troy still hadn't told Gabriella that he felt the spark on a daily basis, and with none other than his best friend herself, Troy sighed glumly and placed his head in his hands.

_Why don't you tell him that I'm leaving Never to come back again  
You've found somebody who does it better than he can  
No more making you cry  
No more grey skies  
Girl we flyin' on the G5, G5  
And we're leaving never looking back again So call your shorty and tell him you found a new man  
The one that's so, so fly  
The one to keep you high  
Yeah we'll be singing all night Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Man she's gonna be singing  
Oh oh oh ohh oh oh ohh oh oh ohhh_

There was of course also the time that the Bryce had actually hit Gabriella, not even Troy had believed him to be as much of a scumbag to hit a girl, he still remembered when Gabriella had turned up on Troy's doorstep with a big red mark on her cheek, which was slowly turning a bluey purple colour, her face tear stained.

**Flashback**

**Troy groaned when the doorbell went, and cursed when his life suddenly ran out on the Xbox game he was playing, realising that he was the only one in the house, so he would actually have to get up and answer the door.**

**As the doorbell rang again, Troy pulled his t-shirt over his head, yanking it down as he pulled open the front door, to reveal the top of Gabriella's head as she looked at her feet, shuffling them slightly.**

"**Elle Belle? What are you doing here? I thought you were out with Bryce today?" Troy queried, mystified as top why his best friend had turned up on his doorstep out of the blue, but tenderly lifting her head when he heard her sniffle softly, and gasping, fury coursing through his veins as he saw the red imprint on the side of her face as she averted his gaze.**

**Gently, Troy pulled Gabriella into the house and lead her through to the kitchen, where he lifted her up onto the breakfast bar, Gabriella still not uttering a word, as he soothingly attended to the bruising area, meeting her eyes once or twice, before she would immediately tear them away again.**

**Sighing, Troy put the first aid kit away before leaning in between Gabriella's legs, one arm resting either side of her waist on the breakfast bar, causing her to look at him.**

"**Did he do this to you Gabriella?" Troy asked, demanding an answer as he manoeuvred so that Gabriella was boxed in and had to look him in the eye.**

**As she mumbled a barely audible yes, Troy felt his anger levels peak, and picked up his Mom's cook book, throwing it at the window on the other side of the room, cringing when Gabriella jumped at the sound the impact made.**

"**I'm going to bloody kill him," Troy hissed, and a look of panic flittered across Gabriella's face as she hopped off of the breakfast bar, and walked over to Troy, placing a gentle hand on his arm, before he engulfed her into a hug.**

"**Belle please promise me one thing," he whispered into her hair, and she nodded, "Please Belle, for your own safety leave him, find someone else, promise me that," Troy managed to choke out, horrified of what could happen to the girl he loves, she nodded again and Troy frowned slightly, "Promise me Belle," he whispered again, and smiled slightly when he heard her muffled promise in response, "Good," he smiled, pulling back from her and wiping away the single tear making its way down her face, "Now do you want to watch a movie?" He laughed when she nodded her head enthusiastically, "Which one?"**

**Gabriella pretended to think for a minute, before grinning as though a light bulb had just gone off in her head, "St. Trinians!" She trilled excitedly, and Troy groaned, begging her to change her mind.**

**However, when Gabriella pouted at him, he sighed, knowing that he couldn't resist it, "Go find it," he laughed as Gabriella's face lit up once more and she rushed up the stairs to find the copy he kept for her visits under his bed.**

**End Flashback**

Troy had never told Gabriella, but that had been the scariest day of his life, other than when she went back to him after that, telling Troy that he had apologised and promised her that it would never happen again, although Troy himself had always been sceptical, and had watched Bryce even more carefully than before.

_Don't stress Don't Stress Don't stress Just turn him to the left left left  
Don't stress Don't Stress Don't stress Cause we gone and we gone and we gone  
No stress No stress No stress  
Girl you deserve nothing but the best  
No stress No stress No stress_

One thing which always got to Troy was how stupid Bryce made Gabriella feel, Troy knew and everyone else knew that she was one of the brightest, if not the brightest student that had ever attended East High, yet Bryce still had the power to make her feel like she knew nothing.

Troy knew that Gabriella's Mom had never liked Bryce either, that much had been obvious when Bryce had had Gabriella in full panic mode, telling her that she would never be as beautiful or as useful to him as the cheerleaders if she didn't learn how to use lots of make up and wear the skimpiest clothes that Troy had ever seen.

Gabriella had ended up having a fit and refusing to eat with anxiety after he also told her that she needed to lose weight if she wanted to look even half as good as the head cheerleader Kerry.

Troy had wanted to kill Bryce straight away when he had gotten the phone call from Maria Montez telling him that Gabriella hadn't eaten anything for three days straight, and begging for his help.

Troy of course had rushed straight round with Gabriella's favourite foods, Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream, his Mom's cookies and pizza from their favourite restaurant.

Amidst eating the food in front of her, and continuously telling jokes, Troy had thankfully managed to get Gabriella laughing and more importantly eating within an hour, and the two of them had even gone out for a meal later on in the day as well, Troy being impressed that such a little person as Gabriella could pack away as much as she could, and loving her melodic laugh that he rarely heard these days when he actually told her that.

_Girl, you need to tell him that I'm leaving never to come back again  
You've found somebody who does it better than he can  
No more making you cry  
No more grey skies  
Girl we flyin' on the G5, G5  
And we're leaving never looking back again So call your shorty and tell him you found a new man  
The one that's so, so fly  
The one to keep you high_

Troy's eyes snapped up from his thumbs as the front doors to East High burst open with a sudden ferociousness, and a hysterical Gabriella flew out of them, running straight passed Troy, not even realising that he was sitting on the wall.

Troy silently jumped off of the wall and started to run after her, panicking when he saw her run into the road before looking, and heard the blare of several horns, as Gabriella suddenly stopped dead in the middle of the road, like a deer caught in the headlights.

Troy's legs were pumping as fast as he could make them go as he ran into the road, pushing into a terrified Gabriella, as the two teens fell to the grass, amongst the angry yells of drivers as they passed, Troy cradling the sobbing Gabriella tightly to him, as she clung tightly onto him.

"What did he do this time Belle?" Troy asked softly, lightly stroking her hair.

"K-Ke-Kerry, I found them in-in th-the st-store r-ro-room t-t-together," she howled, hugging into Troy tightly as Troy winced, having known about Bryce and the head cheerleader for quite sometime now, but not telling Gabriella for fear of losing her forever.

"He's an idiot Gabriella, he doesn't deserve such an amazing girl like you," Troy breathed into her ear, his breath tickling it softly as she pressed further into him.

"It's over this time Troy, I swear to you that it is," she pulled back and looked into his eyes, "I can't take it anymore, and I never felt the spark, I only stayed with him out of convenience, but he's gone, for good," Gabriella muttered, and Troy was glad to see sincerity in her eyes, but wondered if it could actually last, or if she would go back to him. Again.

After dropping Gabriella at home, Troy had headed out to pick up their usual supplies for after one of the break ups, knowing that even when Gabriella said that she wanted to be alone, it wouldn't last, so he was planning to climb her balcony later that evening._  
_

_Yeah we'll be singing all night Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh Man she's gonna be singing  
Oh oh oh ohh oh oh ohh oh oh ohhh  
I've been singing all night, night, night, night  
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh man she's gonna be singing  
She gonna be singing  
Oh She gonna be singing  
She gonna be singing  
_

Gabriella laughed hysterically as Troy danced around her room, singing loudly and very off key into her hairbrush, wiggling his eyebrows or winking at her every few lines, as she sat up in her bed, although she was actually doubled over with laughter, surrounded by empty ice cream cartons and dried up tissues, that at one time had been soaked with her tears for Bryce, but who was long since forgotten since Troy had turned up at her balcony doors half an hour earlier.

Gabriella, who by this point couldn't breathe from laughing so hard, as Troy wrapped one of her blankets around his torso as though it were a dress and was still carrying on with his dancing and awful high ptched singing, finally couldn't take it anymore, and she threw her big stuffed animal of a white tiger, which incidentally Troy had bought her on her birthday, causing Troy to drop the blanket and trip over it, falling onto the bed, right on top of Gabriella, their lips locking as both pairs of eyes widened in surprise, before sinking into the kiss.

"Wow," both Troy and Gabriella breathed out as they finally parted, Troy still hovering over Gabriella, smiling at the beauty that lay beneath him.

"That was some kiss," Gabriella whispered, grinning up at Troy, her hands still in his hair, fiddling with the ends as their eyes met, both sparkling, having wanted to kiss their 'best friend' for longer than either could now remember.

"Better than Bryce then?" Troy asked cockily, grinning at Gabriella once more, his hands resting either side of her head to support his weight.

"Hmmm, well I don't know about that," Gabriella muttered, giggling softly at the look of panic and confusion that had spread its way over Troy's facial features, "I think I need more experience to be able to compare that." Grinning at Troy's still confused face, Gabriella pulled him in for another heated kiss.

The couple finally broke apart when air had become an issue, each sporting dazzling smiles.

"Better," Gabriella muttered, Troy's forehead gently resting on hers as she interlocked their fingers, before grinning back up at him, "Definitely better."

_Oh we gonna be singing_

**Well guys that was the oneshot to Leavin', please review and tell me what you thought of it, for those of you that read Need You Now, I'm working on the next chapter, so it should be posted tonight or tomorrow.**


End file.
